The Center for Urban Research and Education (CURE) will begin its spring season on Friday, February 3rd, with a presentation by Dr. Joan Maya Mazelis, Assistant Professor of Sociology and CURE-affiliated scholar.  Dr. Mazelis will discuss her new book, Surviving Poverty: Creating Sustainable Ties Among the Poor.  

Surviving Poverty carefully examines the experiences of people living below the poverty level, looking in particular at the tension between social isolation and social ties among the poor. Dr. Mazelis draws on in-depth interviews with poor people in Philadelphia to explore how they survive and the benefits they gain by being connected to one another. Half of the study participants are members of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a distinctive organization that brings poor people together in the struggle to survive. The mutually supportive relationships the members create, which last for years, even decades, contrast dramatically with the experiences of participants without such affiliation.        

All are welcome to this free event, which begins at 12:15 p.m. in the Armitage Hall Faculty Lounge.